METAR
Meteorological Aerodrome Report
Last updated: April 20, 2026 · Maintained by Aviatr Editorial Team
What is METAR?
A METAR (Meteorological Aerodrome Report) is a routine coded weather observation issued by airports worldwide every 30 to 60 minutes, reporting wind, visibility, cloud layers, temperature, dew point, and altimeter setting at the exact time of observation for pilot pre-flight use.
How is METAR used?
Pilots review the current METAR before every flight to assess departure, en-route, and destination weather against the legal minimums for their flight rules (VFR or IFR). METARs are encoded in a compact ICAO format — for example, 'EDDB 121050Z 27012KT 10SM SCT030 15/10 Q1013'. The report tells the pilot wind direction and speed, visibility, cloud base, temperature, dew point, and the altimeter setting (QNH) needed to calibrate the aircraft altimeter. Flight schools teach METAR decoding as a core ground-school skill, and aviation authorities include METAR interpretation on the theoretical knowledge examinations for all EASA pilot licenses. Commercial and airline dispatchers also consume METAR data for operational planning, flow control at busy airports, and fuel-load calculations on longer routes where destination alternates may be required. Modern aviation weather portals publish METAR feeds in near-real-time, and the data flows directly into flight-planning software and electronic flight bags used by airline and general aviation pilots.